


when i watch the world burn, all i think about is you

by likelightninginabottle



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: In Our Bedroom After The War, M/M, Or Really; On the Living Room Couch After the War, Pining, Post-Canon, Romanticizing the Lights in the Hospital Parking Lot, Sexual Tension, The Inherent Romanticism of Sharing a Box of Pizza, Touch-Starved, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:48:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28420428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likelightninginabottle/pseuds/likelightninginabottle
Summary: When Theo wakes up in the McCalls' living room, the entire upper half of Liam's body isinsideTheo's shirt, the one he'swearingright now, that's still kind of covered in blood and sweat and grime, his face mashed to Theo's bare chest, soft, snuffling breaths whispering across Theo's skin, and Theo's trying to keep his heart rate steady, but it's unsuccessful, and itspikes, and then itruns, quickly getting faster and faster until it wakesLiamup, from where he had his ear pressed to Theo's chest.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 58
Kudos: 307





	when i watch the world burn, all i think about is you

**Author's Note:**

> oh jesus, okay. I think this is like my fourth update in four days?? Yikes  
> Here's the obligatory "Hi, I have no idea what this is"  
> Hi! I have no idea what this is!! I really wanted to write something IMMEDIATELY post-canon since everything I write has some pretty substantial time jumps and I've never tried it before. I think it turned out okay! It was DEFINITELY an adventure but :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

When Theo wakes up in the McCalls' living room, it takes everything Theo has not to panic.

Monroe is gone, as of last night, and most everyone made it out alive, the Anuk-Ite's influence and stone-powers broken by whatever the _fuck_ went down in the library yesterday.

(Theo took one look at Scott's weary expression, the dried blood congealed on top of the dark circles of his eyes, covering almost half his face, and very deliberately, did not ask.)

Everyone even escaped the hospital fairly unscathed, besides Liam and Theo getting shot a couple times, but that wasn't _that_ bad -- Melissa fussed over Liam in one of the corner exam rooms while Theo hid in the janitor's closet and carefully dug the bullets out with the tips of the claws, the clink of metal on the floor in the darkness bringing back some _visceral_ sense memories that he can't help but shudder at.

He snuck out the back, got into the truck, braced his palms on the steering wheel, and thought.

 _Now's your chance, Raeken_ , he thought, _No one would even notice if you skipped town._

All the adults are in the hospital, fussing over their kids and the weapons and _proper arrest procedure_ for _cult lunatics_ , and no one would even hear him start the engine, pull out, get onto the highway and drive and drive and drive until the echoes of Tara's hand delving into his chest and tearing his heart out of his body are far behind him.

 _What's keeping you in Beacon Hills,_ he tries to reason with himself, but the answer is so obvious, that he doesn't even _bother_ responding, not even in his own head. He _thunks_ his head down onto the steering wheel, just when a soft tap on his window makes him almost _jump_ out of his own skin.

He takes a second to himself, dread filling his stomach as he starts to _panic_. _You missed your chance,_ he thinks, _You only had one chance, one chance to be free, and you missed it._

Another, softer tap, and Theo finally tilts his head to look up, the dread in his gut twisting into something else _entirely_ as he catches sight of Liam's profile, the lights in the parking lot throwing the jut of his cheekbone into stark relief, the cut of his jaw harsh, a perfectly straight line, like someone had adoringly shaped it themselves, slicing neatly through flesh and bone. In the darkness, his eyes look clear, Theo can't see the blue in them -- abruptly, absurdly _misses_ it, wishes he could just get one last taste, before everything goes to shit -- and his hair is pushed back, out of his face, and his shoulders are absurdly strong, and here, in the dead quiet of night, illuminated only by the moon and the stars and the parking lot fluorescents, and the kind of light that Liam seems to emit all on his own, from somewhere deep, deep inside him, he doesn’t look like a kid or a beta werewolf or a human, he looks like something else entirely.

 _Ethereal,_ Theo thinks unbidden, heart skipping a beat, and _that's_ what makes Liam's head whip to him, eyes catching on Theo's, a small, soft thing curving at the corner of his mouth that Theo wants to chase with his eyes, with his fingers, with his _own_ mouth, so bad that it makes his chest ache, right where Tara always digs her fingers in.

Theo rolls down his window.

"Hey," he says quietly, and it's almost _comical_ how underwhelming it is, after everything. Like they're strangers, like Theo never pushed himself into Liam's head and played around with his love and anger like some kind of half-demented ventriloquist, like Liam hadn't pulled Theo out of his own, personal hell, like they hadn't pushed and pulled and saved each other over and over and over again until Theo lost count, couldn't even tally it up anymore, doesn't even know how to calculate who has won and who has lost -- and Theo knows how to calculate _everything_ , it was the one thing he was always good at -- doesn't even know what _winning_ and _losing_ would look like in this scenario anyways.

A small, amused glint shines in Liam's eyes, among a whole host of other things that Theo can't even _begin_ to untangle, and Theo thinks, _he gets it_. Here's a kid who has been through everything. You don't make it out on the other side burning as bright as _Liam_ does, without finding everything horrible that happens to you at least a _little_ hilarious.

"Hey," Liam replies, just as quiet, leaning into Theo's open window, braced on his elbows, even though he doesn't _need_ to, he was more than close enough for Theo to hear him _already_. He would be close enough if he spoke from all the way across the _parking lot_.

But he doesn't, he leans closer, something almost _desperate_ in his eyes that Theo can't decipher, brows just slightly furrowed, even as his tone stays impressively even, lightly curious, when he asks, "Where're you going?"

Theo swallows, throat clicking. He averts his gaze, can't seem to concentrate when Liam's looking at him like that, looking at him like he can see straight _into_ him, scrape past the thick scabbing of scar tissue and examine what's underneath, but it doesn't last long. His eyes flick back to Liam, as if drawn there by a magnet, and he can't look away, can't look away from the scrape on Liam's cheekbone, the congealed blood on the side of his face, the grime on the hinge of his jaw, he's filthy and he's _beautiful_ and Theo wants to _lick_ it all off his body, suck his bruises straight from his skin until he's clean again, until he shines as bright as he always shines, and stops looking so goddamn _tired,_ so goddamn _worried._

His eyes finally rest on Liam's. "Nowhere," he says, decision apparently made, made faster than Theo could think through it, made as soon as he saw the tense line of Liam's strong shoulders through the window of his truck.

Liam smiles wider, just a little, brows raised. "You sure?"

" _Yes,"_ Theo sighs. "Yeah, did you--? Did you need something?"

Liam looks at him, for just a second, eyes searching, roving over his face, and Theo doesn't know what he finds there, but he feels split-open, feels raw and exposed, like a nerve, as Liam leans harder on his elbows, further into the car, and Theo has to tense every single muscle in his body to press himself as hard against the back of his seat as he can, lest he do something _stupid_ like try to press his mouth against Liam's.

"Take me home?" Liam asks, tentative, and Theo's nodding, almost automatically.

"Yeah," Theo says, sounding breathier than he would like, the word releasing with a _whoosh_ of air that Liam's probably close enough to feel on his face. Theo's heart is _pounding_ , and he can't control it, not like he could before, because he had so many _walls_ before, nice and protected, but somehow, sometime between then and now, Liam had dug his way through them, snuck under his skin in a way that Theo couldn't _stop_ , didn't know _how to stop_ , didn't know how to _deal_ with, or what to do besides brace himself for the _worst_ kind of pain and go along for the ride. "Yeah," he repeats, "of course."

Liam watches him, for another second longer, careful like Theo has never seen him before. Liam is _gentle_ , but he isn't _careful._ He's not calculating, not cautionary, he's not _Theo._ He's beautiful and brave and Theo wants him so bad that it makes his throat close up, makes his hands shake where they're gripping _tight_ on the steering-wheel, white knuckled, and Liam watches him and watches him and watches him, and Theo tracks the movement of his eyes, where they rest, as they flick down to Theo's heart, beating rabbit-quick, before flicking up to Theo's _mouth_ , and Theo feels his heart skip _another_ beat.

" _God,"_ Liam breathes, shaking his head ruefully, "you really have _no_ idea, do you?" And Theo has to frown, has to puzzle out whatever _that_ means, but before he can even begin, everything in his mind grinds to a halt, as Liam runs the tips of his fingers down the line of Theo's jaw and Theo stops _breathing_ , stops doing _anything_ that isn't staring, gaping dumbly at Liam while Liam chews his lip, clearly deliberating. Theo swallows reflexively, mouth dry.

 _What,_ Theo wants to ask, _What are you doing?_ But he can't even open his _mouth_ , and the line of skin that Liam brushed over is tingling, _burning_ , the blood in Theo's veins _singing,_ and he can’t help but tilt his face into the touch, just a little, seeking out more contact, and Liam sucks a sharp breath in through his teeth, sudden and surprised, and Theo _winces_ , jerks back, stops the desperate thing inside of him that's clawing at his chest, pleading, _yes, more of this, please_ , because no one has _ever_ touched him like _this_ before, says _stop_ , says, _you're embarrassing yourself_ , says, _you push and you push and you push too far and that's why you can't have nice things,_ and he clamps his eyes shut, humiliated, waiting for Liam to say something, to laugh, to _leave_.

Liam doesn't.

" _Theo,"_ he sighs, barely even a whisper, and that's not what gets him to open his eyes, he feels _far_ too vulnerable for that. No, it's Liam reaching _back_ for him, deliberately, tucking a loose piece of hair behind Theo's ear and Theo's eyes _shoot_ open as he tries to fight a shudder working itself down his spine. There's something intimate about the way Liam says his name, something in the way his tongue curls softly around the vowels. Theo can't work out _exactly_ what it is, but he wants to feel it against his skin, wants to _taste_ it in the back of his throat.

Liam's warm palm lingers on Theo's jaw for a couple seconds. Definitely more seconds than is necessary for whatever Liam's trying to accomplish here, definitely less seconds than it takes for Theo to pull himself together.

Slowly, Liam pulls away, and Theo has to resist the urge to follow his hand as it retreats through the window.

"Can you drive everyone else, too?" Liam asks, finally.

Theo blinks. "Yeah," he says, voice cracking. "Yeah, sure."

 _Everyone else_ turns out to be Mason, Corey, and _Nolan_ , of all people. Mason and Corey are dead to the world, weary as hell and slumped against each other, Corey half in Mason's lap in a way that _definitely_ doesn't allow for seatbelt use, but, whatever, there's no one else on the road anyways. Nolan is pale and sweaty and darts a whole lot of nervous glances out the window, and Theo knows _that_ feeling, even though it was almost ten years ago that he was a terrified kid, dunked into this world of werewolves and wendigos and indecipherable moon-magic, unforgiving and with no time to adjust, like being pushed into a cold-water creek.

There's not much to be said. And, to be fair, Theo's not paying attention to much at all besides Liam, sitting in the passenger seat, watching him carefully with bright, clear eyes, in a way that makes Theo restless.

Theo's left hand is on the steering wheel. His right is on the console between their seats. A quick flick of a glance tells him that Liam's is too.

There's barely an inch between their hands. Barely an inch and it feels like _miles_. The distance between them feels almost _insurmountable_ , especially with Liam's eyes pinning him like that, keeping him facing forward in a the drivers seat, unable to dart a glance to the side and meet them, for fear of what he'll find there when he does.

Eyes fixed firmly on the road, Theo slowly, almost _imperceptibly_ , inches his hand closer, just a couple centimeters, the hard plastic of the console scraping the oversensitive nerves on his hand, cool against the heated skin, and it's not _nearly_ far enough for it to even _brush_ against Liam's, which is why he's _shocked_ , when it ends up pressed against a line of warmth.

He darts another look down. Liam's hand isn't where it was a couple seconds ago. It's a couple centimeters to the left, the side of his hand pressed flush against Theo's and Theo can't _breathe._ He chances a look at Liam, just a quick side-eye, but Liam's facing the window, head turned _completely_ and Theo can't make out what's on his face, can't read what's in his eyes. All he can see his the pink skin of the back of his neck, the flushed tips of his ears.

Theo looks back at the road, heart _pounding_ , holding his breath as he lifts his pinky finger, brushes it tentatively against Liam's, barely even a caress, hears his own heart stutter, hears _Liam's_ heart stutter, but he keep staring forward eyes trained on the windshield, completely unseeing, as Liam's finger curls, just a bit, an _invitation_ , and Theo _burns_ , dragging in a ragged inhale, sparks of electricity bursting across his hand, lighting up his entire _body_ , as he brushes against it _again_ , more deliberate, hears _Liam's_ breath stutter in his chest, and they both move at once, pinky fingers curling together carefully between them, tangled together, and Theo feels like he's on _fire,_ his whole body running _hot_ , toes curling in his sneakers, just as Liam lets out a punched-out exhale as their fingers lock together.

Theo tries for another surreptitious look at him, hopes he can get away with it, and when he turns, Liam's staring down at their hands. He curls his pinky tighter around Theo's, squeezing just once, and Theo's stomach flips, turning and fluttering as he squeezes back carefully, and Liam's eyes shoot up to take what he clearly thought would be a secret look of his _own,_ but he catches Theo staring back at him, and ducks his head almost _immediately,_ flushing.

Before he turns around, Theo catches a flash of the dopey grin stretching across his face, the one that he tries to hide in his shoulder. _After_ he turns around, Theo catches sight of the _red_ skin of his neck, the _flaming_ tips of his ears, and has to bite back a smile of his own, turning back to the road, feeling warm down to his toes.

"Turn left here," Liam whispers, still facing away from him, and Theo's too drunk on the feeling of Liam's calloused pinky against his own to question it. He turns.

\---

Liam directed him to the McCalls' house, even though he said _home_ , and Theo doesn't know what _that_ means, until he sees all the cars in the driveway, parked haphazardly, strewn all about, and thinks _, Oh._ Thinks, _Pack._

Even in his head, the word sounds _obscene_.

"We should wake them up," Liam whispers, and Theo nods, once, but neither of them move to leave Theo's truck, or turn around, or break the quiet, or break the hold between them.

Theo looks down at their tangled pinkies, wondering if it would be too much to just give in and try to lace their fingers together, ask for forgiveness later instead of permission now, wondering how Liam's palm would fit in the hollow of his own, halfway lost in thought when Mason pipes up, " _I'm up,"_ and he says it in a normal volume, but it's so _loud_ in the quiet of the truck that they both _jump_ , and the stillness between them shatters. "Light sleeper," Mason says, shrugging.

Theo turns slowly to face Mason, where he's acting as some kind of mattress for Corey in the backseat. Mason flicks a pointed look to Theo and Liam's hands resting on the console, pinkies tangled together, and a smug little half-grin works it's way onto his face, as he looks at Liam, and then at Theo.

"I _knew_ it," Mason whispers, just as Liam blurts, _definitely_ too loud, " _We should go inside."_

They get Corey and Nolan awake, and the three of them shuffle into the McCall house while Theo sits awkwardly in the drivers seat of his truck, Liam hovering by the drivers side door.

He looks at Theo, searching, and Theo can't avoid his eyes anymore.

"You should come inside," Liam finally settles on, gently coaxing, and Theo winces.

" _Liam,"_ Theo breathes, and _god,_ he sounds _devastated_. "You _know_ no one would--"

" _I_ would," Liam protests, sounding desperate. "Theo," he says, eyes wide and pleading and how is _Theo_ supposed to compete with _that, "_ Theo, _I_ would."

Theo's elbow is resting on the edge of the door, where the window retracts, rolled all the way down. This never seemed particularly important, until Liam decides to curl his fingers around it, tugging gently, thumb running down a prominent vein in his forearm, scraping softly against Theo's fried nerve endings, and Theo almost loses all the breath in his lungs when he realizes that's the arm that he took Gabe's pain with.

" _Theo_ ," Liam whispers, something desperate in the rasp of his tone, and he doesn't look away this time, _neither_ of them do; he looks straight into Theo's eyes as he keeps Theo's arm in his grasp, runs his fingers gently down the length of it like he has the _right_ to do that, like he's _owed_ it. "You should come inside," Liam repeats softly. "Please."

Theo should say _no,_ should say, _fuck off, Dunbar_ , and drive far, far away where no one knows what he is or what he's done, far away from this house with all these people who Theo has personally _wronged,_ far away from this stupid boy with his pretty eyes and ridiculous hair and strong hands wrapped around Theo's forearm as he tells him not to go.

Liam looks at him and says, _please_ , and Theo is _gone._

He only has room for one thought, everything else drowned out by the buzzing in his head from every tingling scrape of Liam's finger against Theo's tender forearm.

 _This is going to hurt like a_ bitch _when it all comes crashing down_ , he thinks, eyes flicking to Liam's hands on Theo's arm, Liam's mouth, before finally coming up to rest on Liam's eyes. _This is going to tear you apart from the inside out_ , he thinks to himself, and even he doesn't know if he's talking about the McCall pack members inside the house who could literally tear Theo, limb from limb, or about Liam, who crawled under Theo's skin and nestled comfortably into his heart, who could tear it to shreds with nothing but a couple words, leave him _devastated._ Hell of an advantage to have over somebody.

Theo is a weak, weak man. He licks his lips nervously.

" _Okay,"_ he whispers back. They go inside.

\---

It's not what Theo expects. No one tears him limb from limb. In fact, barely anyone even registers his presence, besides Stiles, who's right behind him in line to claim a box of pizza, and when Theo takes one for him and Liam, Stiles just frowns, says, "Dude, I thought you _hated_ pepperoni," and Theo is too _thrown_ , too bewildered to reply with anything but a bemused shrug and a mumbled, " _Liam_ doesn't."

Stiles snorts, something knowing about the quirked line of his mouth, and it pisses Theo off, just a little. " _Shut up,"_ he snaps, and it's meant to come out _acerbic_ , but it mostly just comes out _exhausted_ , because Theo's fucking _tired._

" _Sure,_ buddy," Stiles replies, and then he swipes a box of Pineapple, and leaves the kitchen, probably to laugh at Theo some more.

Theo scowls.

\---

Everyone's a bone-deep kind of tired, and Theo doesn't know _how_ much the bill for food and drinks ran them, but it _couldn't_ have been cheap. They're all sitting around the living room, sprawled in various positions, mostly on the floor, since there aren't _nearly_ enough seats to accommodate anybody, but somehow, Liam had claimed two couch cushions for the both of them, Lydia curled up on the third, knees pressed to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs as she gnaws on a knot of garlic bread.

It's quiet inside. All Theo can hear is chewing and the occasional yawn, and the steady stream of the adults' whispering in the kitchen, where they've settled around the breakfast table to talk about what happens _tomorrow._ The idea of there even _being_ a tomorrow makes Theo's head hurt, and so he blocks it out, absently chewing on his pizza, jaw moving almost mechanically, and he focuses on the steady beating of Liam's heart instead. It's strong, like it should be, and when Liam shifts his leg, just a little, and his thigh is pressed flushed against Theo's, and Theo's feels his _own_ heart skipping a beat, Liam's head _whips_ up and Theo knows Liam's doing the same.

He has to duck his head to hide the flush that rises.

Eating has been good for clearing Theo's head. An easy, mindless task. Theo's been picking the pepperoni off his slices, pushing them onto Liam's plate, and Liam accepts each and every offer with a small smile, hands Theo his crust when he's done, which Theo takes out of his hand, wrists brushing against each other in a way that makes heat curl in Theo's gut. Theo has finished each and every crust Liam has given him.

Theo finishes his slice, reaches for another one, almost automatically, and startles when his fingers brush Liam's, who _also_ freezes, _caught_ almost, and they both stay still like that, greasy fingers just _barely_ touching each other. Theo wants to grab his hand again, _needs_ to feel Liam's bare skin against his own.

"You can have it," Liam murmurs, but he doesn't withdraw his hand, doesn't look up from where his eyes are watching the point of connection between them.

"I'm not that hungry," Theo replies quietly. He doesn't move a muscle.

Liam huffs out a laugh, picks the pizza up with his _other_ hand, the one that was _farther_ from the box, rather than just using the one that was hovering right over it, the one brushing against Theo's fingers. He folds the slice in two, takes an _enormous_ bite out of it, and then pushes the remaining half towards Theo.

Theo takes it, reflexively, _also_ with his other hand, and he can't help but think, _his mouth has been here_ , can't help but wonder if the sauce and cheese on his tongue tastes at least a _little_ bit like _Liam,_ because they're still _touching_ , and it's _ridiculous_ , they're not even holding hands or anything, just their fingers pressed lightly together, but neither of them make a move to separate. They both keep watching their hands, even as Theo chews on his slice, until Liam finally, curls his hand _inward_ , just the _barest_ amount, barely even noticeable, but just _enough_ for the curve of Theo's palm to slot perfectly into his own, and he hears _both_ their hearts skip a beat at the same time, perfectly in sync.

\---

Eventually, sleeping arrangements are discussed and beds are claimed. Theo honestly doesn't pay attention, doesn't give a single _fuck_ , leaves the multivariable calculus of bed assignments to the True Alpha, just shoots the obligatory, agreeable finger guns at Scott when he turns to Liam and Theo on the couch, asks tiredly, "You guys good there?"

"Awesome," Scott sighs, clearly relieved, and then makes the trudge upstairs.

Mason and Corey get the other couch, and someone's clearly passed out on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, although Theo doesn't have the energy to crane his neck and see who. He thinks it might be Parrish.

The couch they claimed is old enough to where only the recliner on Theo's side works. Theo pushes his seat back, crosses his legs, and shuts his eyes, only to reopen them when he feels the weight of two feet on his lap. Liam's head is resting on the other armrest, and for all the short jokes Theo cracks at his expense, Liam really _is_ too tall to be trying to lay down across only two cushions. There's really nowhere else for his feet to _go_ besides Theo's lap, but. Still.

Theo shoves Liam's feet off, with a grunted, " _Absolutely_ not," and he _swears_ Liam almost _pouts._

But _then_ , Liam switches direction, back turned to Theo as he slings his ankles over the edge of the armrest he had his head on a couple seconds ago, resting his head on Theo's _lap_ , and Theo can't help the breath that gets caught in his throat.

"This okay?" Liam asks, just _barely_ audible, clearly half-asleep already, eyes shut as he nuzzles into Theo's thigh. "S'comfy."

Theo swallows, throat clicking. His hand comes down to rest on Liam's head, to run a careful hand through Liam's sweaty hair, tentative, and Liam hums, contented, head pushing into Theo's palm almost absentmindedly, seeking out the contact.

Theo swallows again, around the lump in his throat, tugs on the loose piece of hair hanging in front of Liam's face and tucks it carefully behind his ear.

" _Yeah_ ," he whispers, tongue feeling thick and clumsy in his dry mouth. "Yeah, this is okay."

\---

Which brings him to _now._

When Theo wakes up in the McCalls' living room, the entire upper half of Liam's body is _inside_ Theo's shirt, the one he's _wearing_ right now, that's still kind of covered in blood and sweat and grime, his face mashed to Theo's bare chest, soft, snuffling breaths whispering across Theo's skin, and Theo's trying to keep his heart rate steady, but it's unsuccessful, and it _spikes_ , and then it _runs_ , quickly getting faster and faster until it wakes _Liam_ up, from where he had his ear pressed to Theo's chest.

"S'wrong?" Liam mumbles, nuzzling harder into Theo's skin, and Theo has to swallow once, twice, _three_ times before he's willing to take the chance that his voice won't crack.

" _What are you doing?"_ Theo whispers, bemused, even as he lifts a hand to rub circles on the curve of Liam's shoulder. He can't see _it_ , or Liam's _face_ through the fabric of Theo's t-shirt, stretched over Liam's body, but Theo has spent too much time watching, too much time _staring_. He could find every piece of Liam with his eyes closed.

" _Sleeping,"_ Liam replies, muzzy, clearly only half-awake, and it's muffled through the fabric, but Theo makes it out just fine. "M'comfy," he says. "Smells good."

Theo wrinkles his nose, because he's _sure_ he smells _disgusting_. He didn't have the energy to hop into the shower, scrub the grime and sweat and congealed blood off his body. There's no way he can smell like anything _other_ than musk and sweat.

" _Good_?" Theo asks quietly, _prompts,_ really, almost _morbidly_ curious.

"Mmm," Liam hums in agreement, brushing his thumb down the curve of Theo's pectoral muscle, almost absently, and Theo can't _see it_ , but he can _feel it_ , and it almost makes the sensation _more_ intense, as he fights the instinctive shudder. "Smells like," Liam starts, before pausing, seemingly mulling it over. After a bout of silence _just_ long enough for Theo to assume that he fell back asleep, Liam smacks his lips together, clumsy, and then says, quiet but perfectly clear, lips pressed against the skin right above Theo's _racing_ heart, "Smells like _safe."_

"Oh," Theo says dumbly, like his hearts not _thud, thud, thudding_ right in his ribcage, like the blood isn't _singing_ in his body.

Luckily, Liam's not expecting a response. He's snoring quietly, already having fallen back asleep.

\---

Sometime between _that_ , and when Liam wakes up for _real,_ Melissa comes downstairs, passing through the living room to get to the kitchen, and when she sees Theo, she stops and just _stares._

Theo winces inwardly, waiting, _bracing_ for something horrible to come out of her mouth, something justified, something that he _deserves,_ but she just sighs, eyes flicking down to the large, human-size lump buried inside Theo's shirt.

"That's Liam, isn't it?" she asks, like she already knows the answer, and Theo doesn't know what to do with _this_ , this benign kind of neglect, this absentminded kind of kindness, this unintentional, accidental, misguided kind of gentleness -- doesn't know what the _appropriate_ response is so he settles with a firm, neutral nod.

A grin spreads across her face, bright, even with the dark circles underneath her eyes. She shakes her head. "The Sheriff owes me fifty bucks," she says, almost conspiratorial, and Theo doesn't know what he's supposed to say to _that_ at all, so he just squints at her, bemused.

She laughs, loud, because everyone seems to be laughing at Theo these days.

Theo doesn't scowl this time, he just sighs, resigned, wrapping one arm across the line of Liam's fabric-covered shoulders, and slumping back into the couch behind him. Liam hums again, quieter.

\---

Liam wakes up eventually, sometime around ten. After Theo and Melissa, but still before everyone else.

He shimmies out of Theo's shirt, sliding down the length of Theo's body, and Theo has to grit his _teeth,_ has to dig his blunt human nails into the flesh of his palms, to not _react._ Instead of getting up and sitting on the other end of the couch, as would be proper and decent, Liam just settles back where he was before, this time, _over_ Theo's shirt, while one hand remains underneath, resting on the bare skin of his navel.

Liam's head is on Theo's chest in a _deliberate_ , purposeful kind of way, a gentle thumb stroking the sensitive skin right above Theo's waistband, smelling so _aggressively_ like Theo, that it makes his _head spin,_ and Theo can barely _breathe_ , let alone string more than two words together.

"So," Liam whispers, the sound of it vibrating across Theo's chest, "I guess you should probably leave now, huh? No one's awake yet." His eyes flick up to Theo's, before he averts his gaze, quickly, an unhappy curve at the corner of his mouth. "No one to stop you."

Theo knows, logically, that it's only been a day since he's seen Liam by the light of the sun instead of the moon, but it feels like _years_ since Liam's eyes have looked like the color they're supposed to be, instead of clear, scrutinizing pools under the illumination of the hospital parking lot.

In the light of the mid-morning sun, Liam's eyes are a warm, sweet blue. Everything about Liam is sweet, even his anger; Theo's never found a word that encompasses him more than _that_ one, and he's spent a _lot_ of time thinking about it. Too much time thinking about it.

The line of his jaw, the way his hair curls around his ears, kisses the top of his shoulders, his soft, red mouth. Sweet, sweet, sweet. His voice and his strong shoulders and gentle, clever hands.

Everything about him is so sweet it makes Theo's _teeth_ ache.

"Probably should," Theo agrees. He swallows. Licks his lips. Clears his throat. "Might not, though."

Liam's head _whips_ up, cheek still mashed into Theo's chest, and Theo's heart skips a beat, skips a _couple_ , to be completely honest, and Liam brings a shaky palm up to cover it.

"Yeah?" Liam whispers, meeting Theo's eyes as he _presses_ into Theo's chest, firm and grounding. "Might be your only chance to get out of this hellhole," he says, eyes searching Theo's face. "What's stopping you?"

" _Just_ ," Theo breathes, bringing his own trembling fingers to Liam's hand where it's resting on his chest, " _one_ ," he whispers, curling them inward and lacing their fingers together -- _all_ of their fingers together -- before he meets Liam's eyes again, " _thing_."

There's a moment of silence, of complete and perfect stillness, in which Theo is more scared than he's been in his _life,_ and then a slow, easy smile spreads across Liam's face and he _buries_ his head in Theo's chest, laughs wetly into the fabric of Theo's shirt, before he brings his head _up_ to press his forehead to _Theo's_ , brings his other hand up to cup Theo's cheek, says, voice hoarse, " _God,_ I was _hoping_ you would say that," and then he _surges_ into Theo, mouths meeting with a desperate, harsh _clack,_ and Theo can't do anything but open up on a sharp gasp as Liam licks inside, strokes his tongue against Theo's as his fingers spasm on Theo's cheekbone, and Theo's head spins and spins and spins as he wraps one arm around Liam's waist, drags him in even _closer_ until Liam is basically in his _lap_ , crawling onto Theo's body and pressing himself as close as humanly possible, until they're perfectly flush, until Liam kisses the air out of his lungs, steals the breath from his body and the fear from his bones and it's all Theo can do to just sit there, with Liam on top of him, and ride it out, trying not to fly apart and shatter, completely held together by Liam's soft lips moving against his own, and Liam's warm chest braced against his own, and Liam's gentle fingers on Theo's face.

They finally part, foreheads pressed together, panting, breathing _ragged_ , and Liam darts in to catch Theo's lips _again_ , once, twice, _five times_ , stealing kisses from Theo's mouth like he can't help himself, and Theo grips him harder, kisses back desperately, clamps his eyes shut when he feels the sting at the corners, and he kisses him and kisses him and kisses him.

When they _actually_ separate, Theo can't help but tip Liam's head back, brushing his fingers across the hinge of his jaw, because he _can_ , and nosing along the line of his jaw.

"You _smell_ like me," Theo rasps, the fangs pushing at his gums, itching to spring out and fucking _take_ what's _his_ , but he keeps them in.

" _Yeah,"_ Liam replies, breathy, before slowly, _deliberately_ baring his neck, and Theo's on him _immediately,_ running his nose down the long, pale column and he hears Liam's heart beat speed up, hears his breath hitch in his lungs, _feels_ Liam's excitement hard against his hip. "Good, right?"

And Theo doesn't smell good, not at _all._ He smells like the hospital and gunpowder, and, like, _desperation,_ probably. But Liam smells fucking _delicious_ , squirming in his lap, warm and sweet and sleepy and _Theo's_ , and Theo can't help himself as he licks the thin sheen of sweat from the hollow of Liam's throat, can't help himself when he _keeps_ going after Liam gasps, breathy -- moans, "more, _please, Theo," --_ and Theo kisses down the line of Liam's throat, sloppy and open-mouthed and _hungry_ , hungry for the taste of Liam's skin and the noises that keep spilling from his lips, and Theo keeps going and going and going.

\---

They don't _actually_ have sex on the living room couch, with Mason and Corey sleeping a couple feet away and a mysterious body still lying on the floor by the coffee table and Melissa in the kitchen and everyone else still _somewhere_ in the house, mostly for the sake of decency, but _honestly_ , Theo deserves some kind of _award_ for resisting a lapful of desperate Liam.

There are really only a _handful_ of ways someone can smell like someone else with the _intensity_ that Liam smells like Theo. This is something they don't realize the _significance_ of, until later in the day, almost noon.

By around twelve, everyone's more or less awake and being generally disruptive in the living room as they try to _inhale_ the alarmingly expansive spread on the McCalls' dining table.

Malia's head _whips_ to them the _second_ she enters the living room, wrinkling her nose as she shoots them an unimpressed look. " _Really,_ guys?" she asks, crossing her arms. "On the living room couch? That's _disgusting."_

Theo chokes on his spit, realizing a second too late, _coyote nose_ , but he's still doing a fair bit better than Liam, who's gone _red_ , spluttering, "But, we _didn't--"_

"You _sure_ you want to finish that thought?" Mason asks, brow raised, skepticism _dripping_ from his voice, and it's not like either of them was paying _attention_ to how loud they were being, to who _else_ was awake, but Theo remembers, _light sleeper,_ remembers Liam's fairly far-from-quiet gasps, and can't help but flush, even as he tries to take an unaffected bite of his bagel.

Liam makes a noise like he's _dying_ , burying his face in Theo's shoulder, and this time, even _Theo_ gets to laugh.

\---

"So," Liam says, when they're alone again, back in Theo's truck. "You're staying?"

A small, rueful smile curls in the corner of Theo's mouth, and he averts his gaze as he admits, "Probably shouldn't."

A warm hand curls around Theo's jaw, tilts his head back to the passenger side. "You should stay," Liam insists, eyes flicking between Theo's own, and then, quieter, conspiratorial, "I _want_ you to stay."

_What's stopping you?_

_Just one thing._

Liam's mouth is the sweetest thing Theo has ever felt against his own, and he feels his toes _curl_ , even though the kiss is chaste.

"Okay," Theo breathes, when they part, and he leans back in to chase Liam's mouth, to taste the curve of his smile until they're _both_ out of breath. "Okay, I'll stay."

Liam bites his lip, searching Theo's face. "You'll stay?"

"As _long_ as you want me," Theo replies earnestly, _way_ more honest than he would like, but.

Liam smiles, the corner of his mouth flickering up. "Might be a long time," he says.

Theo smiles back, helpless. " _Good,"_ he replies.

" _Really_ long," Liam continues, leaning back in, and Theo _laughs_ into his mouth, laughs _harder_ when Liam parts from him with a whispered, "Really, _really_ long."

On the _fourth_ added _"really"_ Theo has to stop him, hands cupping his face as he says, amused, "I _get_ it, Liam."

Liam continues, undeterred, "Really, really, really, really, _really_ long," and all Theo can do is sigh, accept his fate, and try to lick the next _"really"_ straight out of Liam's mouth.

 _Sweet,_ he thinks. _Sweet, sweet, sweet._

Theo stays.

**Author's Note:**

> okay!! :) I had fun!! How'd you like it? It's kind of different from everything I've written so far, but I thought some ~variety~ would be nice :D
> 
> As always, tell me what you liked, what you didn't! All feedback is welcome, and GREATLY appreciated. If you want to come scream at me on tumblr, feel free to find me at [inabottlelikelightning](https://www.inabottlelikelightning.tumblr.com/)
> 
> love you guys :)  
> -lightning


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